Hotel Accident Claims – How Much Compensation Can You Claim?

Whether you stay in a hotel for a business trip, on holiday or when visiting relatives, you’d expect a good night’s sleep, a pleasant stay and maybe a nice meal too. You certainly wouldn’t expect to end up being injured during your stay. Unfortunately, though, accidents happen. If you were injured or made ill due to the hotel’s negligence, you may be eligible to make a hotel accident claim for compensation.

You could benefit from the support of our experienced personal injury solicitors if your hotel accident claim is accepted. Our team have been handling various types of compensation claims for many years. Importantly, any case they take on is managed on a No Win No Fee basis, so you won’t have to pay for your solicitor’s work unless you are awarded compensation.

After you have read this guide, please call our team on 0800 6524 881 if you have any questions about the hotel accident claims process or starting a claim today.

Am I Eligible To Make A Hotel Accident Claim?

Anybody injured in a hotel or on its grounds may be able to claim compensation if negligence was the cause. This can include hotel guests or even staff members who were hurt because the hotel owner/operator failed to maintain a safe environment.

Generally, to make a successful hotel accident claim, you’ll need evidence to prove:

• The hotel owner or operator owed you a duty of care.
• That duty was breached because of negligence.
• As a result of that negligence, you suffered an illness or injury.

Hotels, like all businesses that welcome paying guests, have a legal duty of care. This means they must take reasonable steps to ensure visitors are safe during their stay.

If you’d like us to check your eligibility to make a hotel accident compensation claim, please contact us today.

Common Causes Of Hotel Accident Claims

Some common situations where a hotel accident claim might be viable include:

• Slips, trips or falls resulting from negligence. For example, you may be able to claim if a porter leaves luggage right behind you’re injured from a trip and fall.
• Injuries caused by damaged furniture. In this case, you might be able to claim, for example, if an old chair collapsed and you hurt yourself during a fall.
• Burns or scalds. An example here might be where waiting staff overload a tray and end up spilling scalding hot drinks on you.
• Food poisoning. If you are made ill from food poisoning because food has been handled, stored, prepared, or cooked incorrectly, you might be eligible to make a claim.
• Gym accidents. You could also be entitled to claim if you are injured in a gym because of poorly maintained, faulty or damaged fitness equipment.
• Unattended swimming pools. A swimming pool is one of the most accident-prone areas in any hotel. Guests can injure themselves if they slip on slippery surfaces around the poolside. In the worst possible scenario, a guest might drown in the pool.
• Theft & assault. Criminals know that a hotel’s guests can be easy targets. The smallest security lapse is often enough for them to relieve guests of their valuables and other personal belongings, leaving them injured and traumatised. If a guest is hurt in an assault by an employee, the hotel may be held liable on grounds of negligent security for failing to conduct a thorough background check on the employee.
• Food allergy. If you suffered an allergic reaction due to a food allergy in a restaurant at the hotel, you may be eligible to claim.

Even if you weren’t injured in any of the hotel accidents above, we can still review your case for free. If we believe you have a reasonable chance of success, we could appoint a personal injury solicitor who’ll represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.

Common Injuries From Hotel Accidents

Some common injury claims arising from hotel accidents that our solicitors can deal with include:

Please call our advisors today to discuss your injury and how you’ve suffered as a result.

How Much Compensation For A Hotel Accident/Illness Could I Claim?

Due to the unique nature of each hotel accident/illness claim, it’s not really possible (without all of the details) to calculate how much compensation you might be paid if your claim is successful. However, once a specialist advisor from our team has considered your case during your no-obligation review, we should be able to tell you how much hotel compensation you could claim.

The individual elements that could form part of your claim include:

• Compensation for any injuries. This includes the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you suffered.
• Any costs, expenses or financial losses caused by the accident. This may include medical costs, travel expenses, lost income and care costs.
• A payment to cover the cost of replacing (or repairing) personal property that was damaged in the accident.

How much compensation you’ll claim for your pain and suffering will be dependent on the seriousness of your injuries. Therefore, we can arrange for you to visit a local medical specialist for an independent medical review.

To learn how much your claim might be worth, please feel free to contact one of our specialists today.

Hotel Injury Compensation Calculator

We shall now take a look at what compensation for some common injuries could be worth following an accident in a hotel. We can do this by referencing the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The calculator below includes data based on the JCG figures, as these are used by solicitors and lawyers when calculating compensation for general damages.

As there is a long list of different injuries possible following a hotel accident, we haven’t listed them all here. It’s also worth noting that you should not rely on these figures as, even if your case is won, there is no guarantee about how much compensation will be awarded.

To learn if your case is suitable for our No Win No Fee claims service, please do get in touch today.

Evidence To Support A Hotel Accident Claim

Irrespective of how you were injured in a hotel, there are some steps you should take to obtain evidence that could help if you decide to seek damages from the hotel. They include:

• Reporting the incident to the hotel reception and asking for a copy of the accident report.
• If you had an accident or suffered an illness in a hotel while on holiday, you should report it to your holiday representative. You may also find it beneficial to refer to our holiday accident claims page.
• Photographing the scene of the accident before the root cause is removed, if possible.
• Asking for the contact details of anybody who witnessed the hotel accident take place.
• Requesting copies of any CCTV footage that captured the accident.
• Seeking treatment for your injuries. This should not just be first aid. You can use medical records from an A&E, doctor’s surgery, or minor injuries unit to support your hotel accident claim.
• Document any costs or expenses you incur because of your injuries.

These steps could go a long way to supporting any subsequent hotel compensation claim. For example, if you have a copy of an accident report signed by hotel staff, it is very difficult for them to deny the accident happened.

If you would like us to consider the evidence you’ve already obtained, simply call our free advice line today.

Time Limits For Claiming Hotel Injury Compensation

Hotel accident claims, as with all personal injury claims, usually have strict time limits that you must adhere to. Mostly, this will be 3 years to start court proceedings from the date the accident took place.

If your child is injured in a hotel accident, it’s possible that you or another responsible adult (litigation friend) could make a claim on their behalf. As a litigation friend, you’ll carry out tasks on behalf of the child and deal with solicitors for them. There is essentially no time limit for personal injury claims involving children up until they turn 18. If you don’t claim hotel compensation for them, when the child becomes an adult, they’ll have 3 years to claim themselves.

It’s typically best to begin the hotel accident claims process as soon as you can. By doing so, you’ll probably be able to recall what happened more easily and in more detail. You’ll also help your solicitor by giving them plenty of time to gather any evidence required to support your claim.

To find out when your time limit expires, please call our team today.

Do I Need A Solicitor To Make A Hotel Accident Claim?

Legally, you don’t need a solicitor to make a hotel accident claim. However, these cases can quickly become complex, especially when it comes to proving liability and negotiating with insurers. Hotels usually pass claims to their insurance companies, who will often aim to settle for the lowest amount possible. Therefore, we’d recommend seeking the assistance of a personal injury solicitor on our team. This means, you’ll have an expert who can:

• Assess the strength and value of your claim.
• Gather and present the right evidence.
• Handle all communication with the hotel and its insurer.
• Challenge low settlement offers and negotiate for the maximum compensation you deserve.

Our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis, meaning you won’t have to pay legal fees unless your claim succeeds. This reduces the financial risk and gives you peace of mind that your case is in safe hands.

Starting The Hotel Accident Claim Process

If your case is taken on, we’ll provide a solicitor to help you. They will provide regular updates for you and will deal with everything on your behalf. If a compensation offer is received, they will check that it is fair and discuss it with you. Should the offer undervalue the severity of your injuries, they’ll go back to the hotel’s insurance company and try to negotiate a fairer settlement for you.

We’re ready to start your claim when you’re ready to begin. Call us today on 0800 6524 881 and we’ll start the hotel accident claims process right away.